Stir, then serve promptly with a side of... ladies. "Put the famous Hooters Girls on the floor. And that kind of brought the edgy-meets-neighborhood joint. And I think that was part of the success," Droste said.

Oh -- you want me to define success? Okay. "In a year, 60 million customers will go through a Hooters door," Droste said.

The original location on Gulf-to-Bay served as the model for all the rest.

Over the years, the original restaurant in Clearwater has been remodeled. But they've kept the wooden bar and reused it to build other counters.

And in the new, expanded space, they've built a gift shop and a museum to chronicle the history of Hooters.

In the museum area, Droste pointed to a mannequin wearing a white t-shirt and brown shorts.

"What we have here is the original Hooters outfit that actually lasted for about two or three weeks and then evolved to the traditional, iconic Hooters girl outfit that is in 450 restaurants around the world," he said.